Why doesn't Huntsville meet any interstate highway directly?

[Maya Blue]

Originally Posted by madisonresidence

Any answers from optimists?

There's a reason why we call ALDOT, ALDONT, around here.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by Tourian

The spur does count. It is an interstate. It is an interstate grade road. What you are describing that "hurt" Huntsville by 65 not passing through it was that 565 wasn't finished until 1991. But a few posters here think it didn't matter much for Huntsville's meteoric rise and it did it despite the (lack of) access. So some disagree. Most of the cities major growth happened in the 50s-70s anyway.

Apparently everyone who mattered knew where Huntsville is and how to get to it. Even if it took some wrangling to get you guys on our 65N signs as a control city (or maybe that changed precisely when 565 was completed)

No I'm not talking about the lack of an interstate access prior to 565 being built, the city was hurt by that as well, but there's a difference between 565 connecting through Huntsville and what it would have been like had 65 been built through Huntsville. For one the traffic that is on 565 entirely consists of people traveling to and from Huntsville, it makes the city more isolated. Had 65 been built through Huntsville, It would be exposed more as a city by people who were traveling through. No one ever sees Huntsville unless they have a specific reason to come here, a lot of people don't even realize it's the 2nd or 3rd largest metro area in Alabama. Obviously building 565 solved the access problem of the interstate system to Huntsville, which was the issue of most importance, but the exposure issue, still being somewhat isolated from the interstate system still remains, and it's not a pressing enough issue that it will ever be solved. You can look at it in a positive way as well though, we don't have to worry about all the extra traffic from not being directly connected to I65.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by Tennhioland

Every time I drive on I-65, 75, 40, 81, 95, etc, I'm reminded how nice it is that Huntsville is connected by a spur. Very few semi-trucks and vehicles just passing through on the interstate in Huntsville.

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Obviously building 565 solved the access problem of the interstate system to Huntsville, which was the issue of most importance, but the exposure issue, still being somewhat isolated from the interstate system still remains, and it's not a pressing enough issue that it will ever be solved. You can look at it in a positive way as well though, we don't have to worry about all the extra traffic from not being directly connected to I65.

Yep. That about sums it up. It is a give and take and some of Hunstville's positive attributes may be partially attributed to not having 65 cut right through the middle of it. It is all about reasonable expectations. And it is reasonable to expect that ATL-HSV-MEM is dead.

[FiveDime]

Originally Posted by madisonresidence

Any answers from optimists?

The questions are coming from optimists. The answers are coming from realists.

It's not going to happen. Period.

Originally Posted by Tennhioland

Every time I drive on I-65, 75, 40, 81, 95, etc, I'm reminded how nice it is that Huntsville is connected by a spur. Very few semi-trucks and vehicles just passing through on the interstate in Huntsville.

Add driving through Chattanooga on I-24 to that list. But, hey, an Interstate route through Huntsville would pull some of that traffic off 24...and into our city!

Originally Posted by madisonresidence

...I can't wait to to be able to drive to Atlanta in just two hours.

The converse would hold true as well, should you ever get your wish. Huntsville would be 2 hours from Atlanta...we'd turn into another suburb for them. Great.